Ever wondered how high performers maintain momentum throughout the year? Here’s how these business leaders and Advisors in The Oracles keep themselves and their teams motivated.
1. Work smarter, not harder.
My relationship with God helps me sustain momentum. I’m always praying for wisdom, direction, guidance, and strength. Being spiritually aligned with your team is also very important. This way you can be praying and encouraging each other.
Be big on execution. It’s a great feeling when things get accomplished. Do your best to manage expectations. Be humble and willing to listen and learn. Use technology to improve your processes and maximize efficiency, and always think about ways to work smarter, not harder. When you and your team can do this, you’ll find all the momentum you need to accomplish anything throughout the year and for years to come. —Thomas Carter, founder and CEO of DealBox; read about Thomas: “This FinTech Veteran Is Making Cryptocurrency Startup Funding Legitimate”; connect with Thomas on LinkedIn and Instagram
2. Learn this important superpower.
Maintain momentum through osmosis. Our brains get inspiration by example; so spend time with others who are 10 years ahead of you, which also makes you more competitive. Then train yourself to stay cool under pressure.
Momentum creates choices, which overload your brain, whose default reaction is to stop. When you’re gaining momentum, little things will constantly go wrong and opportunities will pop up to distract you. You’ll feel torn between spending time with family and friends, working out, eating right, sleeping enough, and building what you’re building. Don’t get overwhelmed or let anxiety take control. Practice taking a few deep breaths and stay calm. That’s a superpower. —Tai Lopez, investor and advisor to multiple multimillion-dollar businesses, who has built an eight-figure online empire; connect with Tai on Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube
3. Have an open-door policy.
Naturally, I’m always looking forward, but I make time for spontaneous celebrations in the moment when we reach a milestone, hire a new employee, hear an uplifting story from a consumer, or launch a new flavor that’s just so delicious! I keep the momentum going by always looking at the big picture but staying very hands-on in the everyday. The team sees and hears me. They inspire me, and I inspire them.
Our mission bonds us. Besides creating something that tastes great and is great for you, we all feel good about our simultaneous initiatives with public schools, sustainability, and so on. Hint has a purpose, and the team really believes in the purpose, lives the purpose, and therefore always has ideas to expand or amplify it. My door is nonexistent — there’s no corner office — so it’s always open. My team takes my lead and never stops thinking about what to do next or how to do something better. —Kara Goldin, founder and CEO of Hint Inc.; creator of The Kara Network, a digital resource for entrepreneurs; and host of the “Unstoppable” podcast; follow Kara on Twitter and Instagram
4. Measure short- and long-term goals.
You can relax too much if you look too far ahead. I break down three-year goals into annual milestones, quarterly objectives, monthly sprints, weekly activities, and daily goals. Inspire and empower your team to do what matters most for themselves and the company by aligning individual goals with your business objectives.
Then create enthusiasm and excitement by making it fun or competitive. When team members get bored, they can create complexity to feel more valuable or stimulated. Keep them focused on what creates value. Everyone should know how their daily routines support the big picture. Celebrate wins along the way to keep everyone thinking bigger and pressing harder, even if you outperform. Make the path to success clear and measurable, and maintain a larger view of what’s possible. —Brandon Dawson, serial entrepreneur and co-founder and CEO of Cardone Ventures; founder and CEO of Audigy; host of “The B Dawson Show” podcast; connect with Brandon on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn
5. Set actionable, realistic targets.
Identify the best actionable, realistic steps needed to get where you want to go; otherwise you won’t get there. Ambiguity is one of your worst enemies. If deadlines are often unmet, morale nosedives, or work becomes a nuisance, you probably haven’t set actionable goals. Not having realistic targets creates feelings of uncertainty, inefficiency, and pointlessness.
Humans love to work, but we have to know exactly what our jobs entail. I regularly go back to the drawing board to ensure my key performance indicators (KPIs) are tangible and detailed, and that everyone on the team — including me — knows exactly what to do every day to nail them. Your role as the CEO is not to make things happen. It is to identify the vision of where the company is headed and communicate it with everyone. When you do that, big things happen. —Mark Moses, founding partner and CEO of CEO Coaching International; connect with Mark on LinkedIn
6. Focus on mindset.
My daily mindset routine is the key to maintaining momentum. It includes gratitude, meditation, visualization, and some kind of movement. I take the nutrients and supplements my body needs to be at peak performance so I can sustain the energy I need for self-care, business, travel, family, and relationships. These daily hacks have been a game changer for my life and business.
At work, instilling a growth mindset is essential and gets everyone moving in the right direction together. Self-awareness, leading by example, and clear communication are key. When I have clarity, so does my team, and everything has more momentum. If engagement isn’t high (with myself or my team), I adjust and do something different. Focused aligned planning, regular reviews, strategic team building, and big-picture painting gets us excited, raises our energy, and propels us forward. —Andrea Callanan, musician-turned-entrepreneur; voice, confidence, and success coach, and founder of employee engagement company Inspire Me; public speaker and author of “You Are Meant for More”; connect with Andrea on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
7. Do the little things every day.
Pilots have checklists and systems detailing every takeoff, landing, and emergency situation so they can take accurate action with minimal thought. Similarly, we systematize our sales, marketing, and daily operations so we don’t spend time wondering what we should be doing.
Daily habits sustain momentum. Every day we do the “little things,” like reaching out to prospects and checking in with clients, which compounds over time. When you automate revenue-generating activities, you don’t have to worry about your pipeline. You’re consistently building your audience, booking appointments, and honing your sales skills.
With a pipeline of people eagerly waiting to get into your program, it’s much easier to maintain momentum in the face of “failure.” Creating habits around prospecting, scaling, and improvement helps us look at failure as feedback on where we can improve as individuals and as a company. That’s invaluable — and even increases our momentum. —Josh Harris, founder of Agency Growth Secrets; teaches entrepreneurs how to start, grow, and scale marketing agencies that help businesses grow
